Helen Keller is a shining star

The story of Helen Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) is one that would rank as one of the most inspiring in America and perhaps the world has ever known.

At nineteen months of age, she became deaf and blind due to an illness.

In 1886 her mother, Kate Keller, was inspired by the account in Charles Dickens' "American Notes" of the successful education of another deaf-blind child.

Soon after, the Perkins Institute for the Blind delegated one of its teachers and a former student, Annie Sullivan, herself visually impaired, to become Helen's teacher. Thus began a 49-year-long relationship, up to Annie's death in 1936.

First, Sullivan got permission from Helen's father to isolate the girl from the rest of the family in a little house in their garden. The next and most daunting task was to instill discipline in the spoiled little girl, for she was driven into rages by her indescribable handicap and completely out of control.

Though fate was unkind to Keller, she had a teacher who was determined not to give up on the deaf-blind child. Eventually, it paid off when Keller learned to fingerspell the alphabet and read Braille.

Even as a little girl, Helen expressed a desire to go to college, and in 1900 she entered Radcliffe College and graduated cum laude in 1904 – the first deaf-blind person to graduate from college.

Even though her life was a constant struggle, she wrote twelve books and authored numerous articles. She is an outstanding example of the triumph of the human spirit over a physical handicap.

Founded in 1915, Helen Keller International (HKI) is among the oldest international nonprofit organizations devoted to fighting and treating preventable blindness and malnutrition. HKI is headquartered in New York City, and has programs in 22 countries around the world.

Decades after her death, Helen Keller continues to inspire people all around the world with legacy of her work.

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure."
-Helen Keller